Yes, good article.
I tired a cheap alternative 'mix' last year in a blue bag, I think.. it was a little too heavy/mucky. Might have been fixed with rice hulls- those are prettty fluffy. I also experiment with adding very fine chip bark to whatever peat mix, with good results, and it's cheaper by volume. And I will drop things in sometimes like peanut shells, or crumble dry tree leaves, maybe chop some dry stems, anything fibrous.. this may spark me to a little more of that. Wonder how chopped corncobs would be.. not that I have access to any volume of nicely chopped corncobs.
Or chipped up corks from wine bottle? Some of these things might be more risky for fungus gnats or other soil bugs.
